Chicken and leek soup

We woke up today to a good covering of snow. With much excitement we all got ready for the school run, excitedly putting on snow boots, gloves, hats and coats and marched off into the white stuff. Brilliant fun.

I then proceeded with my morning tasks; butchers (sausages, bacon, an amzing single rib of beef), posting cards, plumbers merchants (don't ask...third trip this week, due to faulty heating system, ugh), and by the time I got back was pretty cold. A hearty soup would be required.

In my fridge was the leftovers from monday's roast chicken. A good stock made from it, and lots of meat. With other vegetables and a few herbs, the soup was made in no time, and was just the ticket. Perefct for a day like today.

Ingredients

1 onion cut in half and sliced thinly

1 large leek, washed and sliced

3 sticks of celery, sliced

3 carrots, cut into smallish chunks

1.5 litres of chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf

leftover chicken

Sweat the onion in a little olive oil with salt and pepper until softened. Add the other vegetables and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the stock and herbs and simmer for about 20 minutes with a lid on. Add the chicken and cook for a further 5 minutes. Check the seasoning and serve. This is a soup that 'warms your bones.'

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Dukan bread

I have read many posts about this bread. Some negative some positive. Carbs are a no-no on the Dukan diet, and one of the issues people can't get their heads around is, missing bread. What NO sandwiches???!!
I first excitedly made this bread when I came across a recipe for it. Although it was lovely to have stuff on toast or in-between something again, the bread tasted pretty horrid. Just quite salty and dense. Eventually through trial and error I have developed this recipe. I like it. It satisfies my 'every now and again' carb cravings. So that works for me. This recipe is enough for 5 days worth of oat bran allowance. I eat the first 5th that day, warm from the oven. I top it with roast ham, cottage cheese, or mackerel pate. It's also really good with fresh crab. I slice it into batches of 3 and freeze. Toast from frozen.


Ingredients
10 tablespoons of oat bran
6 tablespoons of wheat bran
4 tablespoons of wheat germ
10 tablespoons of skimmed milk powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
Large pinch of sea salt
1 tablespoon low fat yoghurt
3 tablespoons low fat from age frais
3 eggs
2 packets of yeast
5 tablespoons of warm water

Line a loaf tin with baking paper and preheat the oven to 200 °C.

The correct way to blend theses ingredients is to mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ingredients in another bowl and then mix the 2 together. More often than not though I start with the wet ones then add in the dry. So do what works for you.

Once the ingredients are fully mixed (I whisk them together), I pour the bread mixture into the prepared loaf tin, put a clean tea towl over the top, and leave somewhere warm for the mixture to rise a little. This makes for a much lighter loaf.

Place the loaf tin in the preheated oven for 10 minutes at 200 °C. Then turn the oven down to 180 °C and cook for another 20 minutes.

Turn the loaf out onto a cooling rack. Slice into 15 slices (just under 1cm thick).

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Chicken soup

This is my recipe for a basic chicken soup. Currently I am doing the Dukan diet so I have added the optional ingredients later. So for those of you following Dukan, the basic soup is fine for 'P' days and I add greens on'PV' days. Needless to say, peas noodles and sugar are all no-no's still. However, the basic soup recipe is delicious and so wholesome. You can simply add to it it depending on your mood or needs.

Ingredients
1 quantity of chicken stock. Home made or shop bought. I usually have about 1.5 litres, but you can have more or less.
1 stalk of lemon grass (I keep mine in the freezer)
1 red chilli chopped
Dash of soy
Dash of fish sauce
Leftover chicken

Optional ingredients
Noodles
Spring onion chopped
Greens (spinach, cabbage, pak choi, mangetout, sugar snaps...)
Sugar
Lime juice

This soup is so easy and comforting. Heat stock. Add the lemon grass and allow the stock to be infused by it. Add chopped chilli. I leave this to simmer gently for at least 10 minutes but it can be left for however long you need it to be.
Just before you are ready to eat, add the chopped chicken and fish sauce and soy sauce to taste.
If you are using the optional ingredients, just precook the noodles and poor over the soup. The vegetables can be added to the soup earlier to cook through.
Once the chicken is heated through, serve.

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The Dukan Diet

The summer holidays were brilliant for us (despite the weather). Lots of time spent together as a family, trips to the zoo, beach, etc and lots and lots of socialising. Happily we have great friends who enjoy doing it with us, so like many, lots of fun equals copious amounts to eat and drink. I, like the majority of the people I know ended the summer needing a full detox, weight reduction, exercise programme to commence ASAP, (as soon as the bank holiday weekend finished though).I had read about the Dukan Diet and liked the sound of it. I hate diets. I hate calorie counting, points, red & green days yadder yadder. I hate people who talk about weight, losing weight, gaining weight. Boring. However I found the Dukan Diet interesting. More because there were scientific explanations as to the effects of the diet on the body. As you have to include oat bran daily. There are also new recipes to try, the 'Dukan pancake' or 'galette' for exmple and no limits on how much you eat, just what you eat. Heavy on protein, and being a fan of meat and fish in pretty much any variety, it looked like a good option.
I commenced my diet on the Tuesday immediately after the bank holiday weekend. I had my mind ready for it. My research was complete, and my fridge was full of Dukan friendly foods. Similar to smoking, I was ready to quite my unDukan friendly foods.
The Dukan Diet begins with an Attack phase. You can stay in this phase for up to 10 days. This is where you see an initial dramatic weightloss. I decided I would do 5 days. During this time you eat low fat protein only, adding 1 and a half spoons of oatbran to a yoghurt or pancake, walk for 20 minutes a day and drink at least 1 and a half litres of water. At first it is quite bizarre to just eat protein at a meal. It is something, like most things though, that we do out of habit. A meat and 2 veg attitude. Sandwiches for lunch. Bread to dip in soup. Potatoes or rice or pasta as part of nearly every meal. To actually sit and just eat piri-piri chicken with yoghurt or burgers with chilli and cottage cheese, sounded weird but was actually delicious. Weirdly I found that afterwards, I honestly wasn't hungry. What was even more strange was that after a couple of days my appetite became really low. My understanding is that this is a part ketosis. Ketosis happens when your body is not getting enough carbohydrates for fuel so it turns on its deposits of fat, for energy. What also happened at this stage (about day 3) was that I had terrible headaches and felt quite lethargic. Exercise, a snack, and lots of water helped here and these nasty side affects also happily disappeared.
I reached the end of the Attack phase and excitedly began the Cruise phase. I'd lost 8 pounds during this first 5 days so was spurred on to achieve more.
It was brilliant to include vegetables every other day now. Celery really does becoming exciting if you've not been allowed it! In the 3 weeks following I have lost a further 7 pounds. You are warned that the weight loss slows down in the Cruise phase. However its still happening so all is well.

I'll post some recipes later, but my favourite meals have been things we would normally eat, with a tweak. Tonight we are looking forward to theses lovely steaks, with mushrooms, garlic and spinach. Just missing the red wine to wash it down with...

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The Pointing Dog v The New Victorian

For some time the local residents of Bramhall and Cheadle Hulme have eagerly awaited the opening of their newest eatery, the latest addition to the Felicini chain. There has been an impressive redevelopment of the property where the old 'Smithy' stood and an exciting menu suggested that this could be something special. I visited the Pointing Dog during it's first week of opening. It was the first Sunday they were open and we were there at about 5pm. We rang to book. On arrival we entered into a spacious bar area. The reception area for the restaurant had someone loosely standing there. After a moment or two I informed them that we had booked and they motioned us towards a table. Not the welcome I expected from a new restaurant wanting to create a good vibe. The restaurant is large and they have created a choice of seating areas. As the restaurant was only about a quarter full, we decided on a more central area of the restaurant to sit in, so we could watch what was going on. (These things are vital in order to entertain small children!) We decided to sit where we could see the kitchen.
The menu's are printed on brown paper and folded to look like knapkins. Thankfully the waitress pointed this out. On another occassion, I arrived to join my quests a little late. I sat down and opened my menu. My guests hadn't realised that they were the menus, assuming they were knapkins as they hadn't been told otherwise. The menu offers an interesting array of dishes, possibly too many. Lots of fish and meat and some DIY salads that I found a little confusing, no vegetarian option and nothing for children. However, when we asked what they could offer to children, they did say that they could do 4 of the menu options in half portions: The shepherds pie, chicken wings, burger, and fish and chips. As it was a Sunday I enquired if the Sunday roast option could also be done in a half portion which they agreed to. It is interesting to note that CAMRA state that 'The cask ale offering is for the moment four beers - it is hoped to keep a changing Dunham Massey beer on at all times'. Great to have a local pub with quality beers.
I had the mushrooms on toast to start and my husband had the mussels. The mushrooms were delicious served with a touch of tarragon and cream. Just the ticket. The mussels were served in a rich saffron and cream sauce which was really tasty. A usual accompaniment would be to serve bread here for dunking. We had to ask for bread, which took a long time to come as it needed to be prepared, heated and served in the obligatory brown paper bag.
The children had the roast beef and fish and chips. Both were good. The roast dinner had a good variety of vegetables, and the fish and chips were eaten with gusto. The minted mushy peas were lovely with the fish and chips. My daughter didn't appreciate them, but she may do in the future. I had the burger which was ok but the fries which accompanied it were overdone. My husband had the sea bass which was good but uninteresting. Especially for the money. All accompaniments are extra. The bill including a bottle of wine and some soft drinks came to £80. We were charged extra for the bread. We left with a feeling of good, but nothing special pub food, for steep restaurant prices.
The New Victorian in Bramhall is a favourite haunt of many in Bramhall. The site as a pub has fallen in and out of favour by local residents but finally with the 'New Victorian' we have got a decent pub back in the heart of the village. Many are happy to get 'a proper pint' back. What is more of a surprise is how they have developed and are continuing to develop the menu and offer seriously good food for adults and children for a good price. The menu also changes seasonally and the manager is more than happy to talk to the customers and develop the menu with them in mind. It's also not a safe and obvious menu. They offer specials and house platters which show creativity and tempting flavours which deliver. Finally a pub with personality.
We return to this pub for many reasons. Being in the heart of Bramhall village it has acted as a meeting point for many of us with young families. The New Victorian offers a friendly welcoming atmosphere, including towards children which is a refreshing attitude in the UK. The menu reflects this with a children's menu, offering the usual favourites which are thankfully cooked in house from fresh ingredients and the children have a choice of peas or beans. Hallelujah.
The house platters to share are certainly worth a try. During the winter they had one which included a ham hock which was simply delicious. In the spring it was replaced by a more seasonal platter including home made brown shrimps, Cajun chicken, fish cakes and asparagus. Lots of boxes ticked here. The menu has it's usual burgers, offering a variety of toppings but always well made, cooked beautifully and generous. In my opinion the best burger for miles.
There are many usual suspects, fish and chips, pie etc, but also some more unusual options. We've had a beautiful sea bass dish here. Another pull towards this eatery are the prices. All the menu options are well priced anyway. However they do offer burger night and Monday to Wednesday they offer 6 meals for £6 currently including burger, chicken and bacon Caesar salad, home made pie, fish and chips. Some places may produce smaller portions in this deal. Not here though.
One final touch is that the management really value excellent service here. The staff are without fail, friendly, courteous and attentive. This is a consistent thing at any time of day, busy or quiet. Again refreshing and welcomed.

In summary.
The Pointing Dog offers much, but for the money, it falls short. On my second visit, they had a set lunch menu which thankfully offered much better value than the a la carte menu ( at £12.95) for 2 courses. The fish and chips is a steep £14.95 so as one of the 4 options on the set lunch menu, it was a good deal. I had mushrooms ( a smaller dish than you get normally) and the mussels. Everyone else had a designer salad to start and there was a goats cheese and beetroot salad for main. All the food was good. My friends said the starter salads were excellent We shared a bottle of wine and some soft drinks and paid £20 each. The service generally is ok, however the waitress seem stressed at being a quarter full. It is something which should improve with time. There is a lovely area at the back with lots of tables and space. Great for a summers day. The overall impression is overpriced and mean, pub grub.

The New Victorian has very little outdoor space and is right next to a car park and busy main road. This is not ideal with small children. However it wins hands down in all other areas. Delicious, interesting and personal food, good value for money, vegetarian choices and great kids food. The service is excellent and welcoming.
Everyone loves the new thing but don't forget what you may have overlooked. The New Victorian produces better quality food, has great service and is cheaper than the Pointing Dog.
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Mexican slow roast pork fajitas

Delicious slow roasted pork. Easy, bang in the oven food that will please all.Ingredients
800 g boned rolled pork shoulder
4 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 red onion sliced
1 red pepper sliced
Garlic oil
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Squeeze of lime juicep
2 large tomatoes chopped
10 basil leaves
1 avocado mashed, pinch of salt and squeeze of lime (or shop bought guacamole)
1 tin of sweetcorn
Grated cheddar
Sour cream or creme fraiche
Shredded crisp lettuce
Chilli sauce (optional)
Soft flour tortillas


Heat oven to 230 degrees Celsius
Put the bay leaves in a roasting tin and put the pork skin side up on it.
Season the meat with fennel seeds, oregano and salt and pepper.
Put the pork in the oven for 20 mins then turn the heat down to 140 degrees Celsius for anything between 3 and 5 hours.
If the crackling needs it, whack the heat up to maximum at the end to crisp it up. Keep an eye on it though.

The pork can sit and rest until it is needed.

When ready to eat. Heat a tablespoon of garlic oil in a large pan. Gently sauté the onion and peeper until soft with some seasoning. Add the spices and continue to cook for a few more minutes. Shred the pork and add to the onions and peppers. Add a squeeze of lime juice.
Chop the tomatoes and add the torn basil and some seasoning.
All of the accompaniments are to be put in bowls for people to help themselves.
Warm the tortillas in the microwave or oven as per packet instructions.

Everyone can then assemble their own tortilla at the table.
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A cracking egg...omelette

In honour of my clever husband who does on occasion listen to me, I have included one of his finest omelettes. Omelettes have become a great addition to our family mealtimes, probably in part due to the inclusion of a low carb diet in our house. Even better is the added bonus that we can both cook them (easily) and all 4 of us like them. In fact my son actually requested that I should 'blog' about them, so here goes.
Omelettes as we all know are a brilliant fast food. I consider myself to be extremely lucky in that I have a few friends who keep chickens and one in particular who kindly brings me boxes of Heidi and Hilda's produce. You really can't beat fresh eggs. However most of us have eggs in, and we can add to them, whatever else happens to be lurking around. Rarely have I shopped for an ingredient for an omelette, but rather taken it as a good opportunity to use up whatever needs using up.
My favourite recipe currently consists of the following. However if one or more ingredients are not present, I do continue to live and always still end up with a good meal.

Ingredients (2-4 people)

• tablesoon olive oil


• knob of butter


• half a red onion, sliced


• 3 mushrooms, sliced


• tablespoon sweetcorn


• 6 eggs, whisked and seasoned


• few slices of cheese (e.g. cheddar, gruyere, any good melter)


• about 3 peppadew peppers, chopped (sweet, slightly hot and bought from supermarket in jars)


• few slices of ham, torn

Start off in a large frying pan. Slowly saute the onion with a pinch of salt until it is gently caramelised. Add the mushrooms and a small knob of butter. When cooked add the sweetcorn and the eggs. Turn to a low to medium heat and cook the omelette until not quite set on top. (Keep disturbing the omelette so that uncooked egg can run throught o the bottom of the pan and cook. Be careful not to scramble though!) You want the omelette to be not quite set and only just starting to go golden underneath. Add the cheese, ham and peppers to the top and let the omelette finish cooking gently. Turn the omelette out onto a plate and serve with salad.

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